AUL Commends South Carolina for Limiting Deadly Late-term Abortions

“South Carolina took a courageous stand to protect women’s health and safety in limiting abortion at a point at which the risks of an already dangerous procedure increase for women,” said AUL’s Clarke Forsythe.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (05-26-16) – Americans United for Life Acting President and Senior Counsel Clarke Forsythe praised South Carolina Gov. Nikki R. Haley for signing a bill, passed recently by wide margins in the state Senate, which would limit abortions at 5 months of pregnancy when it becomes even more dangerous for women. “South Carolina took a courageous stand to protect women’s health and safety in limiting abortion at a point at which the risks of an already dangerous procedure increase for women,” said Forsythe, noting that at 5 months of pregnancy, a woman is 35 times more likely to die from an abortion than she was in the first trimester. While after 21 weeks, a woman is 91 times more likely to die from an abortion than she was in the first trimester.

“The abortion industry puts profits over people, consistently fighting commonsense limits on a procedure that can be deadly. As technological advances allow infants to survive earlier in pregnancy, it’s clear that we must consider the humanity of a life that could be lived outside the womb and that we must consider the inherent harms of abortion to women,” said Forsythe.

With the passage of South Dakota’s laws, there are 18 states that have addressed dangerous, late-term abortions. Of those, 15 states have enforceable limits including: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and West Virginia. Three state laws are in litigation and/or enjoined: Arizona, Georgia, and Idaho.

Sadly, the U.S. has some of the most extreme abortion laws in the world, along with China, North Korea and Canada, as some states allow for abortion through all 9 months of pregnancy, for any reasons (including sex selection), and sometimes with taxpayer subsidies.